Louisville, Florida ADs suggest CU Buffs' Mike Bohn follow his gut

Both have been through heated coaching searches

By Kyle Ringo Buffzone.com

Posted:
11/30/2012 07:03:07 PM MST

Athletic director Mike Bohn looks up at the scoreboard after the end of the first overtime during a CU men's basketball game against Texas Southern on Tuesday. He's in the midst of a football coaching search.
(
JEREMY PAPASSO
)

The worst season in the modern era of Colorado football ended a week ago, but it marked the beginning of what might have been the worst week in the tenure of Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn.

After consulting university President Bruce Benson and Chancellor Phil DiStefano last weekend, Bohn decided to fire coach Jon Embree after just two years on the job. The decision ignited debate between those who supported the firing and those who didn't. The argument seems like it might never end.

The fact the Embree was the first black head coach in the history of the school and a former Buff injected big time emotion and led to assertions from Embree and former coach Bill McCartney that Bohn's decision was somehow rooted in race.

The school held a disastrous press conference Monday at which support for Embree was high and Bohn and his bosses came off as clumsy and defensive answering questions about why they should be trusted to hire the next coach after failing to get it right twice before.

Now in his eighth year on the job, Bohn is facing one of his biggest challenges. The Colorado house is divided. It's up to Bohn to hire the right coach for his football team, someone who can help bring the fan base back together.

It's likely Bohn's last chance to get it right.

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Bohn has begun a search for Embree's successor and has a list of candidates that includes Cincinnati coach Butch Jones, who sources say will visit Boulder and interview early next week if he isn't first hired by Purdue. Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall, San Jose State coach Mike McIntyre, Fresno State coach Tim Deruyter are also considered potential candidates.

Sources say CU also has interest in Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen and Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, but those coaches might have other options to explore before considering the Buffs if they consider CU at all.

"He needs to rely on himself and his gut because his gut has got him a long way," Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said of Bohn. "He's a bright guy. He's got to put the blinders on and move forward. A lot of the people who like to scream and yell, they clamor for times like this."

Jurich has been in Bohn's shoes. He chose to part ways with Hall of Fame Louisville basketball coach Denny Crum in 2001 and faced a similar backlash from fans who thought he had made a massive blunder.

Jurich said at the time he relied on his faith and the people closest to him to guide him through the fire and help him make the right decision in hiring a replacement.

Some CU fans, boosters and former players doubt Bohn's ability to lead the football program and athletic department as a whole back to prominence the way he has helped revitalized once lifeless basketball programs. They have seen him hire Dan Hawkins and Embree and those hires have played a part in the program becoming, perhaps, the second worst from a BCS conference in the nation, next to Washington State.

"I think it's a very good job and I think people around the country will look at it as that," Jurich said. "Mike has a heck of a reputation around the country. I don't think he will have any problem attracting top-notch candidates."

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley understands what it's like to face the Doubting Thomases. In his 20 years leading the Gators he has made some good hires and some that didn't work out as well. None has been more scrutinized than his decision to hire Ron Zook as coach of the football team in 2002. He had to fire him three years later after the Gators went 23-15.

"What you do is you go work harder the next time and make sure you find the right person," Foley said. "But there is no guarantees. You've got to try to find the person who is the right fit for your program. A lot of things come into play. You have to get a break here or there. This is a fragile business."

Foley said when he was in the eye of storm between Zook and ultimately hiring Urban Meyer away from Utah, he relied on his instincts and research to point him in the right direction.

"I've been in that situation with a house divided," Foley said. "You get your next hire on board and obviously you hope the hire that you get is the right person and it works out. At the end of the day when any of us is hiring coaches, you're judged by how that coach does and you can't judge that coach on the day you hire them. A lot of people have a tendency to grade hires based on the day you hire them, but I always tell people it's where you are down the road."

There has been at least some good news for Bohn this week. While the perception outside is that CU football is at an historically low point and most coaches would be crazy to take over the rebuilding project, the view elsewhere appears to be different.

Chuck Neinas, a Boulder-based consultant who has advised hundreds of colleges and universities over the years on hiring football coaches and athletic directors, including when CU hired Dan Hawkins in 2005, says there is plenty of interest in the job.

"I know there are a number of people that are interested in the job," said Neinas, who recently served as interim commissioner of the Big 12 Conference. "There is not going to be a shortage of qualified candidates. So that's a step in the right direction.

"The administration and the regents have to be solidly behind supporting this program. They need to be prepared to move forward if they want to be successful in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is going to pay them some money. They have to show they can earn it."

Neinas hasn't been hired to help CU in its search, but he has a relationship with Bohn that stretches back two decades and it makes sense that Bohn would seek his advice.

"It's very easy to listen to the critics," Foley said. "All of a sudden you kind of become unsure and it affects your confidence a little bit. You can't let that happen. You've got to believe in your philosophies. That doesn't mean you don't listen to other people, but you can't get distracted from the job at hand.

"It's not easy. I promise you what Mike is going through right now is not easy. You lean on the people you trust, stay true to yourself and at the end of the day you've got to make the decision you think is right for the institution."

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